Maintaining your Lawn

 

Watering Established Turf

The most common mistake is to water too little too often, which trains the plant to develop a shallow root system.

Vary watering to meet the demands of excess heat and dryness according to the season.

Give the lawn a good soaking then be prepared to lose a little of the lawn appearance.

This will toughen the lawn, forcing a deeper root system establishment, making it more durable in drought and helping you to conserve water.

 

Fertilising Established Turf

We recommend the use of balanced slow release fertilisers.

These may be obtained from Tarcoola Turf.

The times to fertilise are:

• Beginning of Spring - 3kg/100m²
• Summer - 3kg/100m² .
• Mid-Autumn - 3kg/100m² .

Fertilisers should not be handled without protection, particularly those coated with pre-emergent herbicide.

Open bags and pour directly into a spreader avoiding skin contact and inhalation. For your safety, consider protective eyewear and gloves.

 

Mowing

The basic rule is never to remove more than one third of the leaf.

Set your mower height and mow lawn at regular intervals according to growth.

Should Kikuyu grass become too spongy the best time to dethatch is the end of July or early August.

Lower your mower height and remove dry material - this may require more than one time.

For the best appearance, be sure to keep mower blades sharp.

 

Top Dressing

Should your lawn be uneven, topdressing may be required.

Only apply a sandy loam as much as is needed or as not to smother the lawn - always leave some leaf showing.

 

Weed Eradication and Prevention

Herbicides are available to control most weeds; however, the most effective form of weed control is to have a healthy dense lawn, giving weeds less chance of germination.

Another good idea is to have a weeding implement or garden fork handy and use it whenever you see a weed pop up - it's good exercise and will keep you on top of the situation!